Shaping Workplace Behavior: Leadership, Communication and Office Politics

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will address workplace behavior, looking particularly into leadership and the role of communication, as well as how office politics have evolved and adapted over time.

The literature shows that employee behavior, wellbeing, and satisfaction are often shaped and influenced by the leadership styles of managers, as well as organizational communication and culture. Organizations that have a culture of collaboration, inclusivity, and strong internal communication policies are generally thought to achieve better results with regard to employee retention and satisfaction, and this also positively influences productivity. Moreover, leaders that listen to their employees, communicate their decisions transparently, and generally behave in a way that creates a positive organizational culture are thought to have more success in retaining employees. However, workplace behavior has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic, with many companies remaining remote even after the lifting of restrictions.

Whilst many studies have tackled the switch to remote work and how this affects employee productivity, satisfaction, and retention, with some studies suggesting that remote work options represent an advantage in attracting and retaining employees and that remote work reduces work-related bullying, along with engagement with office politics and all of the negative consequences that office politics bring, fewer authors have tackled the ways in which leadership behavior and communication have changed, whether organizations and managers have adapted to leading in a remote environment, and how this affects office politics and leadership behavior in a remote context.

We must ask the question of whether office politics and discrimination have disappeared or whether means of communicating and leadership in workplaces have adapted to new circumstances and changed, but with the outcomes remaining the same. Equally, what is the impact of ‘new’ office politics on employees and their workplace behavior; have office politics and discrimination disappeared, or are employees less likely to communicate concerns in a remote context? How does internal organizational communication work in an increasingly remote context, and how does internal communication affect workplace behavior?

For this Special Issue, we invite contributions on workplace behavior, focusing particularly on office politics and how office politics have changed and adapted over time. Thus, both historical and contemporary submissions are welcome. Papers tackling the role of leadership, behavioral leadership styles, and the role of communication in office politics and workplace behavior are also welcome.

Dr. Martina Topić-Rutherford
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• organizational behavior
• workplace behavior
• leadership
• behavioral leadership
• employee relations
• internal communication
• office politics
• remote work
• communication
• public relations